Page 8 of Scorched Earth (Dark Shores #4)

The expensive wine turned sour on Teriana’s tongue, but she refused to be baited. She was here for a reason, so it was time she got to the point. “We both hold the power to give one another what we each most want. I propose a trade.”

“I’m listening.”

“I want my people freed. You want secure routes to and from the West so that you can send more legions in pursuit of conquest. Routes better than Bardeen and Sibern.”

Cassius sprawled back on his divan, letting out a sigh. “It’s not much of an offer, I’m afraid. Another path from Arinoquia to Atlia has been found.”

Her heart lurched, and it was with a shaking hand that she picked up a report that he gestured to.

Her eyes skimmed over the words, which detailed finding the bodies of dead men floating in the middle of a lake by fisherman.

They’d borne the fresh tattoos of path-hunters and each had a sealed letter from Titus.

Teriana’s hand stopped shaking. “What good is a path that leads to the bottom of a lake? That’s even less viable than a path to the middle of Sibern. ”

“Lakes can be drained.”

“Not before the next election.” She set down the paper. “Care to reconsider my offer?”

Cassius sighed. “You’ve already made this deal, Teriana. If you knew the location of viable xenthier paths, you’d have already given them to Marcus. For as much as he’s thrown caution to the wind for you, I suspect you’ve done much the same for him.”

Her throat tightened, but Teriana made herself say, “There are many things I haven’t told him.”

“Really?” Cassius rolled onto an elbow, his eyes glimmering with delight. “So much dishonesty between you two lovebirds. So many secrets. Though I suppose that’s what one gets when one sleeps with the enemy.”

Teriana bit down on her desire to demand Cassius reveal what he knew about Marcus’s secrets.

“Not in Arinoquia, but in other nations, there are xenthier stems that have been bricked up for generations because they posed a threat. I can name at least three where it is rumored that screams emanate from behind those brick walls at the same time each year. It’s said that they are screams from the underworld, for no one knows the language, but I reckon that it’s Cel path-hunters who have found themselves entombed. ”

She paused to allow the shock to sink in.

Yet it was not horror that filled Cassius’s gaze. It was desire.

Sitting upright, he dug into a stack of paper on the table and pulled out a map, which Teriana recognized from their first meeting. The meeting where her nails had been ripped off her fingers to get her to talk. The map still had streaks of her blood on it. “Where? Show me.”

Picking up her glass of wine, Teriana took a mouthful, then leaned back in her chair. “Quid pro quo.”

He made a noise of disgust. “I’ll not release my prisoners based on rumors, girl.”

“Obviously.” A bead of sweat trickled down her back as she stared at those bloodstains, remembering how easily she’d been broken.

Knowing that there was little to stop Cassius from putting her to the question again to get the information out of her, and this time Marcus wasn’t here to intervene.

“I want you to call off the hunt for Marcus. Call off your assassins.”

Cassius threw back his head and laughed. “That’s how you’ll spend your capital, Teriana? On a Cel legatus’s life?”

“Yes.” She watched him with flat eyes, content for him to believe that the request was motivated by sentiment and not strategy. Content to allow herself to believe the same even as her heart wept, because the greatest danger to Marcus right now was himself.

“Why?” Cassius refilled their glasses. “Marcus is a bad man, Te riana.” Spreading the rest of the pages on the table out before her, he shook his head.

“So much harm. So much death. All enacted under his orders, and all detailed here in his own hand in reports he sent back to the Senate during prior campaigns. Look!”

Teriana glanced at the pages, recognizing Marcus’s handwriting, then looked away. “I know what he’s done. There’s not a soul in the Empire who doesn’t know, and the West is swiftly learning his reputation.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” He eyed her for a long moment. “I think if you knew what a nasty creature he truly is, you’d beg me to put him down. Marcus is a villain of the first order, Teriana. Wherever he goes, he leaves death in his wake.”

A band of tension closed around Teriana’s chest. Cassius was most certainly manipulating her, but part of her couldn’t help but wonder if she didn’t know the full extent of what Marcus had done in his life. “If he’s such a villain, then why do you want him dead?”

“Why do you believe I want him dead?”

She huffed out a breath. “I don’t know, maybe because you sent assassins to the Domitius villa to kill him?”

“Hostus’s doing, I’m afraid. He and Marcus have bad blood from their time together in Bardeen. Conflict between commanders is quite common, unfortunately. Like roosters in a ring, they try to peck each other’s eyes out.”

Teriana bit the insides of her cheeks, despising the amusement in Cassius’s piggish gaze.

“Cut the crap, Cassius. We both know that Hostus doesn’t take a shit without your permission, which means you gave him that order.

Most likely because you want Marcus out of the way to allow Titus to take control of the mission. ”

“Titus is inexperienced. Why would I want him in command?”

“Because he’s your son.”

Cassius smiled. “You need to learn to play at life like you do at cards, Teriana. Information, and secrets, most especially, are valuable commodities that one should hold back until they can be most effectively played, not thrown down on the table in wild abandon to elicit a reaction. Or lack thereof.”

His voice was serious, but Teriana could feel his mirth. The sudden urge to scream, to cry, to rage threatened to overwhelm her because Cassius was so damn good at making her feel powerless. “Enough. Deal or no deal.”

Silence stretched, the room growing colder by the second.

“It’s not a deal I can make,” Cassius finally replied.

“Hostus’s men are in pursuit, and there is no way to reach them in time to tell them to stand down.

Marcus will either beat them to Bardeen or he’ll die on their blades.

It’s possible he’s already dead. Either way, I’ll not negotiate with collateral I don’t have. Name another price.”

She’d known he wouldn’t commit to it. Couldn’t commit to it, and his refusal to do so gave Teriana some confidence in her belief that he’d be honest in answering the question she really wanted answered.

“What happened to Lydia? I know she didn’t run away. I want the truth.”

The room was so cold now that Teriana was shaking, her skin a mass of gooseflesh. Cassius swirled the wine in his glass, eyes distant, considering. “You want to know Lydia’s fate,” he murmured. “She means enough to you that you’d give me this information?”

“Yes,” Teriana replied. “I think you had her killed once she’d served her purpose. Tell me how and where she met her end so that she can be put to rest in peace.”

“Yet what you offer will bring the exact opposite of peace.” He set his glass down on the table. “Are you sure this is a bargain you wish to make? Because you will not like what I’m about to tell you.”

“Yes.” She clenched her hands at her side, dread making her gusts twist. “Spit it out.”

Cassius shrugged. “As you like. I was not present, but her murderer informed me that she was drowned in the baths and put down the drain into the underground river. I’m afraid her body is quite unrecoverable.

Of course, if you try to use this information against me, I’ll deny it. There is no proof of my involvement.”

I hate you I hate you I hate you. Tears flowed down Teriana’s cheeks, but she forced herself to deliver on her half of the bargain. “All three entombed xenthier stems are in Gamdesh.”

Cassius’s eyes flickered shut, his tongue passing over his lips as though savoring the moment. “Interesting how all three are in the biggest military power of the West.”

Steady, she told herself. You won’t get what you want if you mess this up.

“I’m sure there are others, but Gamdesh is the center of trade.

It’s where the Quincense did most of its business, so I know it best.” Her lip quivered.

“Next deal. In exchange for you releasing my people, I’ll travel through the Bardeen stem back to Arinoquia and share the precise locations with Marcus. ”

Cassius shook his head. “No deal. Firstly, he might already be dead. Secondly, there is nothing to stop you from running the moment you’re through that stem.”

“The Thirty-Seventh holds my ship and crew prisoner.”

“So you say.”

Teriana allowed consternation to rise to her face. “Fine. I’ll give the information to whoever is currently in command, Marcus or otherwise. Also, I’ll travel with the legion you send to reinforce them, so I won’t be able to run.”

He eyed her, his suspicion palpable. “A legion is a costly asset. Sending one now is an unnecessary risk given that a handful of men are enough to secure you .”

It was her turn to shrug. “Your choice, Cassius. The deal is my people’s freedom in exchange for me giving the exact locations of the stems. But for free, I’ll throw in a warning.

Two legions won’t be enough to take any of the locations, especially not under Titus’s command.

As you say, Gamdesh is a force to be reckoned with, and the longer you take, the more time they have to prepare.

Because I assure you, by now they know all about the Empire. ”

Wheels turned in the depths of his cunning eyes.

But there was power in using the truth in one’s schemes, and it was no lie that it would take more than two legions to prevail against the might of Gamdesh.

No lie that the jewel of the West knew about the Cel threat and was preparing for the incursion. And Cassius knew it.